Initial probing of Opus suggests its time estimates are hallucinated from human training samples

StefanoGogioso · x · 2026-10-01

Responding to the debate over Claude's "2-3 days" estimates, Stefano Gogioso ran a preliminary investigation into Opus 5.5.

He found the numbers appear to be inferred or hallucinated from human samples in the training data, with little to no attempt at self-reflection — unless the context has already narrowed to an agent persona.

His conclusion: hypothesis 3 (statistical imitation from training data) is most likely.

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